


Mistletoe

by L56895



Series: 2010 Writings [5]
Category: Harvey (1950)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas fic, F/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 01:31:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16924029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L56895/pseuds/L56895
Summary: The festive season gave them the excuse they needed.





	Mistletoe

Their first kiss had been under the mistletoe at Christmas.

She had resented the cliché but welcomed the excuse to let him kiss her; because he had tried before, unsuccessfully, and always talked himself out of it when their lips were millimetres away from her own. Or there had been some distraction; the sound of Doctor Chumley coughing, or a pipe ringing where someone had hit the plumbing in the upper floors. Anything that would distract them from the marvellously private moment of realising they wanted to kiss, and be kissed.

So when they found themselves underneath the mistletoe on Christmas Eve they had no excuse not to, but every excuse to do so. Wilson had patted Doctor Sanderson on the back as he passed and Ruth had seen his face overcome by nerves and realised that, like her, this was less about tradition and more about fulfilling a deep desire. His hands were warm and solid on her arms when he held her steady and leant forward to place a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. Brief, but telling of hidden passion when she saw the glint in his eye that told her he wanted more.

She hadn't taken her eyes off of him that night, watched him glance over his shoulder at her with a look of nervous contemplation on his face. When she saw him looking she would turn away and blush, sure that he had seen her fervent glances but still pretending she was otherwise disposed.

They found some other excuse to meet under the mistletoe at the end of the day. Once again using the excuse as their only outward incentive. She wanted him to grab her arms and pull her close, without any excuse, just to show that he knew she wanted it too. Yet she knew it was a fruitless hope; despite his professional arrogance he was painfully shy over personal matters. She imagined that years of being the listener, the observer in the lives and loves of others had left him unable to confide. Confiding was something people did in the privacy of his office, with a view to being cured of whatever ailed them. A genuine emotion, it seemed, was alien to him. His affections and his desires were a closely guarded secret that not even she was privy too.

Yet when he kissed her for the second time she noticed a slight telling twitch of his hands on her arms, a pull towards him that let them closer than ever. Not so much a passionate embrace as an intimate one. As if he wanted to show her how he felt and what he wanted but was afraid that she might bolt at the first whisper of caring words.

The mistletoe came down far too soon; Wilson and Miss Dunphy being far too superstitious to allow Christmas decorations to hang for too long after the day itself. Doctor Sanderson made no complaint, expressing some vague desire to get back to normal after the holiday season. Yet one evening she found him standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking wistfully up at the empty ceiling and when he looked down to find her standing close by she noticed the familiar nervous look in his eyes.


End file.
